The American Civil War was a major conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. It arose primarily from the issue of slavery and the secession of Southern states from the Union. The war began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina. The Confederacy, composed of 11 Southern states, sought to preserve the institution of slavery and establish an independent nation. The Union, comprised of the remaining Northern states, aimed to prevent secession and preserve the United States as a unified country. The war was characterized by major battles and campaigns, such as the First Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the Siege of Vicksburg. It also saw the implementation of new technologies, including the use of ironclad warships and the introduction of more accurate rifles. The Union ultimately emerged victorious in 1865, after a long and bloody conflict that resulted in the deaths of over 600,000 soldiers and civilians. The war had a profound impact on the nation, leading to the abolition of slavery with the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. It also solidified the power of the federal government over the states and marked a significant shift in the

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The ternary operator in Python is represented by the symbol "?:". It is used to write conditional expressions in a more concise way than the traditional if-else statement. The syntax of the ternary operator is: ```python result if condition else alternative_result ``` Here, "result" is the value that is returned if the condition is True, and "alternative_result" is the value returned if the condition is False. Example: ```python x = 5 y = "even" if x % 2 == 0 else "odd" print(y) ``` Output: ``` odd ``` In this example, the value of "x" is 5, which is odd. The ternary operator is used to assign the value "even" to "y" if "x" is divisible by 2, and "odd" otherwise. Since "x" is not divisible by 2, "y" is assigned the value "odd".